Georg Wilsberg

Created by Jürgen Kehrer
(1956–)

As popular and influential as the series of novels by German author Jürgen Kehrer about Münster private eye GEORG WILSBERG may be (the author consciously tried to avoid most of the tropes of American detective fiction, presenting an unassuming, decidedly German small town private eye who was neither heroic nor particularly tough), Wilsberg’s biggest impact just has to the long-running German television series that is not only seen all over the world, but is still running after almost twenty years!

After a so-so 1995 pilot with Joachim Król playing Wilsberg, a second attempt was made five years later, again called Wilsberg, featuring Leonard Lansink in the lead role, and that one stuck. Oh boy, did it stick!

A rumpled, disbarred lawyer, middle-aged Wilsberg runs a small shop that sells antiquarian books, while taking on an occasional gig as a private investigator. He’s not getting rich, though — in fact, he’s usually broke, and lives in the back of the store. And since he doesn’t own a car, he has to frequently to borrow one from his friends, or ride his bicycle — a running gag, since Münster is considered the “bicycle capital” of Germany — to visit clients.

And that’s part of the charm. Georg is a conniver and a mooch, a charmer and a bit of a rogue, a decent man with a knack for making bad choices, a sort of cross between Jim Rockford and Angel Martin.

In fact, the whole show seems like Rockford through the looking glass at times.

Although sleepy, provincial Münster is a far cry from Rockford’s trendy Malibu or Hollywood, there’s a vibe here that’s undeniable.

Although he’s not as handsome as James Garner, Leonard Lansink possesses the same hapless, rough-and-tumble charm and Everyman persona that Garner did, and seems to have a similar amount of bad luck and good friends. Like nervous Manni Höch, soft touch Münster city councillor and Georg’s best friend, who helps out at the store and and whose car Georg frequently “borrows,” much to its detriment. Maybe that’s why he eventually moves away, to be replaced by new best friend Ekki Talkötter, another cautious government worker. As a tax inspector and accountant (and a hardcore mystery reader), he’s easy pickings and a good source for Georg, with access to people’s taxes. And, of course, he’s got a car. Then there’s Alex Holtkamp, Wilsberg’s niece and goddaughter, a young law student and eventual attorney, who recalls Rockford’s Beth Davenport. There’s no romance here, but she’s awful handy when hapless “Uncle Georg” invariably gets arrested for burglary or rape or murder or whatever.

And then there are Georg’s police “friends,” whom he’s frequently at odds with. Attractive and age-appropriate (for Georg) Anna Springer is the head of the Münster homicide squad, and his only real friend on the force, playing pretty much the same role as Rockford’s frequently exasperated pal Dennis. The difference is that Anna has feelings for Georg, despite the fact he sees her as more of a friend than anything, and that he’s constantly interfering in her investigations. And finally there’s Overbeck, Anna’s assistant inspector, who’s not really a friend at all. No fan of Georg, he fancies himself some kind of supercop, but his naked ambition, vanity, paranoia and habit of leaping to (wrong) conclusions does his career no favours, and his dislike and distrust of Georg often lead to trouble (and plenty of false arrests).

Good thing Anna’s around.

The books, I’ve been told (thanks, Manfred), are far more complex, with Wilsberg suffering through sometimes major personal changes from book to book. The necessary compromises made, and the low-key approach taken on the television show to appeal to a broader audience, have obviously proven successful, and haven’t hurt the sales of the novels (nineteen and counting) much either. Kehrer has even appeared in cameos on the television show several times.

Which is good news for author Jürgen Kehrer. Born in Essen in the Ruhr region, he worked as a journalist and editor, before writing his first novel, Und die Toten lässt man ruhen (1990), which introduced Georg, and was an early example of what became known as the “Lokalkrimi” school of German crime fiction; a school that was less hard-boiled, and decidedly toned-down, invariably set in “rural and unspectacular areas of Germany,” relying more on character than action. Georg doesn’t even carry a gun.

As far as I know, none of the books have been translated into English, which is disappointing, because recently MHz in the States has been broadcasting the television movies, and while they won’t make you forget Rockford, it has an easy-going charm that will definitely remind you of it.

In a good way…